He is the only Ferrari F1 driver to beat Michael Schumacher and one of the smartest people ‘on the planet’

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There was a period of time when Ferrari was Michael Schumacher’s team, and whatever happened on the other side of the garage was purely to benefit the seven-time world champion.

Michael Schumacher joined Ferrari in 1996, immediately after winning two drivers’ championships with Benetton.

He immediately set about revolutionising the team, and created an inner core of vital personnel including Ross Brawn, Jean Todt and Rory Byrne.

Rubens Barrichello was always Schumacher’s favourite F1 teammate, but that might have partly been down to his inability to out-race the German.

When Schumacher arrived at Maranello, he was joined by another new driver, Eddie Irvine.

Irvine had spent three seasons racing for Jordan, picking up a single podium at the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix.

Eddie Jordan made a £5m deal to sell Irvine to Ferrari, and while he was supposed to fulfil the role of a second driver with the Scuderia, he ended up being the only driver ever to finish above Schumacher in the championship when they were teammates.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

How Eddie Irvine became the only Ferrari driver ever to finish ahead of Michael Schumacher in Formula 1

Irvine was born on 10 November 1965 in Newtownards, Northern Ireland, but competed under a British flag.

He started his racing career in Formula Ford, winning several championships during the 1987 season and moving onto British Formula 3 the following year.

His career began to progress in 1990 when he finished third to future F1 driver Erik Comas and Eric van de Poele in the International Formula 3000 series, but it was three years racing in Japan that led Jordan to finally sign Irvine.

He was one of five drivers to race alongside Barrichello in 1993, scoring a point in one of his two outings for the team, and establishing himself in Formula 1 as a result.

Ferrari came calling in 1996, and he secured a decent string of podiums when his car didn’t break down due to reliability issues.

In 1999, Schumacher suffered a leg break at the British Grand Prix, and Irvine suddenly became Ferrari’s only hope of winning the championship.

Schumacher spoke to Autosport after Irvine won the 1999 Austrian Grand Prix, and while he wasn’t always forthcoming with praise for his teammate, he said: “Eddie did a great job. The world championship is wide open.

“Eddie drove a very clean race and especially kept his nerve at the end when [David] Coulthard increased the pressure.”

Schumacher nearly denied Irvine that title, as he missed out by two points to Mika Hakkinen, and by the time the 2000 season started, Irvine had made way for Barrichello.

His final three seasons in Formula 1 were spent with Jaguar, running in F1’s midfield.

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Ferrari insider says you ‘won’t get a smarter guy on the planet’ than Eddie Irvine

Ferrari insider Gino Rosato was asked on the Pitstop Podcast which Ferrari drivers he had the best relationships with and said: “I mean, look, I still text Eddie Irvine.

“We still text each other and have our little political battles, and I love it.

“You won’t get a smarter guy on the planet than Eddie Irvine, one of the coolest people on the planet.

“I still text Rubens [Barrichello], Felipe Massa, Kimi [Raikkonen]. You know, I became the godfather of his son.”

Rosato was then asked about how drivers change in and out of the car, and continued: “I’ve never met one that [doesn’t change].

“Kimi is actually a gentleman on track. When was the last time you saw Kimi have a big controversy on track?

“If you felt he was wasting time, there was no point. I’m losing a second to lap. There’s no point to try and get in an accident.

“He was smart in that way there, but you take all of them, Kimi’s a nice guy, but Kimi on a good day or with a good car or maybe Felipe, maybe Rubens, as I said, he was a funny guy.

“Eddie Irvine, any of these guys that I’ve seen, I mean, once the helmet was on, it was like, they wouldn’t have gotten there in the first place if they were just not that way.”

Irvine may never have become world champion, but his legacy will remain forever at Ferrari, and he’ll always have one bragging right that no other driver earned when racing against Schumacher.